Why Play with Pumpkins?

How will your family PLAY with a pumpkin, or two, or more? AND WHY would we want to?

Oh, YES, we must have delightful family pictures with pumpkins. And some folks like to cook and/or eat delicious pumpkin pies and treats. And other folks like to decorate their pumpkins, on the outside, and from within. ALL of those are delightful ways to enjoy pumpkins.

But have you just sat with your child in the midst of a variety of pumpkins and considered… how can we PLAY with these in this Moment? At a pumpkin patch, you are not necessarily welcome to just start playing freely with the pumpkins, as they need to be kept in good condition for all. But… what about the pumpkins you gather to really get creative with at home. It’s time to think outside the “decorating” box. But you may be wondering WHY?

A wide variety of real pumpkins, from small enough to be held in the hand even by our babies, to pumpkins so large that our 6 year olds cannot lift them are added to our Kindermusik room in Lakeland during October each year. There are also little crocheted pumpkins that one amazing grandmother created for us years ago. (I still see her face, and bless her each year.) AND, we have these large jingly pumpkin bells which just beg to be shaken and heard, as well as books about pumpkins and a little teddy bear in a pumpkin costume, along with baskets and buckets to put them in. At times, we have also included the lightweight pumpkins you can get at the craft store… but not to decorate… just to play. You may be wondering what benefits would there be to make all these different orange globes available? And you may also be wonder what you may put in your family’s pumpkin playground.

It all started with our very first Pumpkin Party Playdate in 2004, when I realized that not all families celebrate Halloween. I believe all children should be able to celebrate the joys of this season in a creative way that includes fun costumes and does not introduce things that may be too scary for our youngest friends. And although I despise Pumpkin pie, I have a love for all other things Pumpkin, so the idea of an INCLUSIVE Pumpkin Party was born.

Funny thing… it is the children who taught me how to really PLAY with PUMPKINS, and how valuable it can be, regardless of any holiday involvement.

As an adult, I was beginning to realize how Pumpkins are a mystical magical fruit, in that they can be so many different things. There is certainly a magic in the nature of planting the seed and watching it grow, helping it along the way. There is magic in how it can be transformed into a Pumpkin pie or Pumpkin Cookies. And there is magic in how it can be transformed into a jolly glowing face, or a work of art. I was also finding that much of the magic of its transformations can be celebrated in songs and music. So the songs and activities in our Pumpkin Party Playdate grew into an agenda I was happy to share, and invitations were sent out.

YES, this agenda has been a delightful seasonal excursion for famlies for over a decade, and we’d love it if you’d like to join us one of these years. But what I came to realize is that when you get children around pumpkins and open their opportunities for PLAY… and become a playful partner that encourages their explorations. THAT is when the real magic happens. And that is when I began to learn so much more.

When children are offered the option to play with a new object, they are asking the questions, “What is it?” “What can I DO with it?” Because of their lack of experience with it, they are OPEN to exploring it in ways we may not consider. Because of their previous experiences, they may start with how they explore and play with other similar objects.

“Roll That Pumpkin with Your Friends” – is sung as children decide which size pumpkin they will roll, and how they will roll it, and who they will roll it to. Many of them, even the 1 year olds may trying their best to lift each one, or decide how to move it, or what to do with it if they cannot lift it. Some must roll it with both hands, or their feet if it is very heavy, or roll over the top of it with their belly.

Other children love to put them in and out of a little crocheted bag, or buckets or a basket. Which pumpkin fits where? Which pumpkin can I balance in my hand, or on dad’s head? Which pumpkin can I sit on, and which pumpkin can I hide? How many pumpkins and objects can I stack together?

What sounds can I make? What sound does it make if I pat it like a drum, or bump them together, or tap it with a stick?

To them, it all seems like play, but as we know PLAY is the child’s KEY to learning. To their young brain, this type of multi-sensory playground is the best way to build a solid foundation of MATH concepts (even before counting them)… including geometry… a full body understanding of the differences in size, weight, density, texture and so much more. They are also exploring spatial relationships, how to move them, and how to move around them… up/down, over/under, in/out, around and through. This is excellent for activating both sides of the brain; both the creative, and the analytical areas of the brain wake up to play ! ADD music, and a playful partner, then this play and learning last longer… both in the time of play, and the connections created in the brain.

Music, itself, is a grand multi-sensory playground for developing a foundation for spatial relationships and math. Quality research studies have repeatedly shown improved ability for math with those students who also progress in music. In Kindermusik, we like to take everyday objects and combine them with music to help you create rich multi-sensory playgrounds for you and your children to play, for the benefit of the WHOLE child, and so your family experiences it together in a way that all just seems like FUN.